Nick sat beside her on the bed. “I'm not leaving you alone. Besides, this whole fiasco is my fault. If I hadn’t insisted you eat the shrimp, this wouldn’t have happened.”
She turned and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Giving him a half smile, she said, “You didn't exactly put a gun to my head. And I’m not even supposed to be here. This is your vacation.”
He put his hand on her cheek. Such an innocent gesture, but it gave her goose bumps to go along with the hives. “I haven't asked you to leave have I?”
No, he hadn't and she still hadn't figured out why. “No, and for that I thank you, but I'm sure you would much rather be...”
“You're right,” Nick said as he rose and took her hand in his “Let's go.”
“What? I can't go anywhere looking like this.”
He tugged her hand harder and pulled her off the bed. “Don't worry, it's dark outside, and we'll run through the lobby. You'll be fine.”
A little while later she was walking hand in hand on the beach with Nick. The crowds had dwindled to just a few couples enjoying a late night stroll. Probably madly in love, unlike her and Nick. She was convinced he was only here because he felt sorry for her. Would a passerby consider them romantically involved—the thought sent a shiver of hope up her spine.
“Tonight's moon is a blue one you know,” Nick said as he pointed toward the sky.
The moon was higher in the sky making it appear smaller than it had earlier. “I heard about that, but I’m not really sure what a Blue Moon means.”
“Second full moon in a calendar month. It only happens every couple of years.”
“There was a crowd of people out here earlier.” She gave a short laugh. “They believed they could make a wish on it.”
He turned to look at her. “Did you?”
For the first time tonight Brenda was happy she had hives. Maybe Nick wouldn’t be able to see the rush of heat she felt on her cheeks. “Yeah,” she admitted sheepishly.
“What did you wish for?”
“I can't tell you that,” she said as they continued walking. “If I do, it won’t come true.” But it already had. I just had to go and muck it up. She closed her eyes and sighed, then turned to Nick. “So are you going to make a wish?”
They stopped again, and he looked up at the sky and stared at the full moon for a few moments. “Okay, done.”
His arms were suddenly around her waist, his lips covering hers. Soft, gentle, and sweet. Fantasies were for losers. There was nothing in the world like reality. His hands ran up her back as he brought their bodies closer together, his tongue delicately meeting hers—but all too soon it ended.
“Wow, my wish came true! Huh, how do you like that?” Without another word, he took her hand and began to walk back up the beach toward the hotel.
Brenda was speechless. Nick grew silent, too, even as they entered their room. She wondered what he was thinking. Why hadn't he deepened the kiss? Why had he stopped it so abruptly? Well, why wouldn’t he? It was probably just another kiss for him. Nothing special. She was just one in the long list of women he'd more than likely been able to charm. To him the kiss they’d shared probably meant nothing—but for her the moment he kissed her would be etched in her memory forever as the best in her life. She’d never tell him that, though. He’d probably laugh at her.
“It's late, you can have the bed. I'll be comfortable on the couch,” Nick said as soon as they walked into the room.
“No, Nick, this is your room—for which I'm going to repay you, by the way...”
“You're not going to give me one penny. Take the bed. I'm tired and I'm going to sleep.”
His abrupt tone hurt her. She turned away so he wouldn’t see the tears that had rimmed her eyes. She’d been right after all. The kiss had meant nothing to him. Clearly he regretted ever having done it.
***
At eleven the next morning, regrets filled Nick's mind. He regretted having kissed her. He regretted not making love to her. God, he was such a mess, he wasn't even making sense!
She was like no other woman he’d ever known. Sweet, funny, and shy. Nothing like the usual hussies he dated. She could carry on an intelligent conversation. Throw in a killer body and a kisser beyond compare and she was everything he’d ever wanted. And that's why he hadn’t made love to her last night. Sex would just have ruined everything—although he’d never wanted to make love to a woman more than he had Brenda. It would turn what he thought they could have together into just a summer fling—and he wanted so much more.
“I'm going to the beach, do you want to come with me?” he asked. He had to stop thinking about last night. Maybe leaving the room would help.
She’d just come out of the bathroom fresh from a shower and left a scent of wild berries in the air as she moved around the room. God, she even smelled great. He gaped at the colorful skirt and top she wore that accentuated every curve.
“I'm still covered in hives, I'm not going anywhere in the daylight.”
“There are not that many left. Come on,” he urged.
She shrugged. “Maybe later.”
“Fine,” he said gruffly to cover his discomfort. “Order whatever you want for breakfast and charge it to the room. I'll be back in a couple of hours.” He wasn't about to fight with her, besides if she changed back into that tiny bikini, he didn't think he'd be able to overcome his lust, and they'd never leave the room.
***
Three hours later, Nick returned to the room, redder than a lobster. Dammit, he'd had such a restless night that he'd fallen asleep on the beach after applying only a light coat of sunscreen.
At least his dreams had been interesting. They’d been about Brenda being naked beneath him. Which was no surprise since that’s all he’d thought of last night.
“Oh my God, Nick, you're sunburned!”
“I fell asleep.” Now he was the sheepish one.
“I brought some aloe with me. Sit on the bed and I'll rub some on for you.”
Great! Just what he needed, Brenda running her soft hands all over his body. But he was in a lot of pain and followed her advice.
It felt even better than he’d imagined. The gel cooled his skin, while her soft touch boiled his blood. He repressed the urge to pull her down beside him and kiss her until she saw stars. Heck not just stars—but moons...big, bright, blue moons.
“That's enough...” He shot off the bed. “I mean...it felt great. Thanks, Brenda.” He crossed to the other side of the room, putting as much space between them as possible.
“What's wrong Nick? You've been acting strange. Is my being here ruining your vacation? I’ll leave if you want me to. I told you I would. No hard feelings—I'll understand.”
Of course she would—she was a kind and considerate person. “No, you don’t understand.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Uh...Brenda, you didn't ruin my vacation. I ruined yours. Why don't you go out for a while? Go have some fun. Forget I’m even here.”
She eyed him, but didn’t move. Suddenly a slow smile crossed her face. “If I meet some handsome man on the beach, would you hide in the bathroom while we got it on?”
“What? No!” he said, shocked she would say such a thing.
She winked. “Never mind, I'll stay here then.”
They both laughed. Her smile alone turned his heart inside out. And the thought of her ever being touched by another man made his head ache. Then it hit him, why keep fighting what his heart was feeling. Nick stopped laughing and stepped toward her. When she instantly stopped laughing as well, he knew she felt the undeniable attraction.
Before he could blink he had her in his arms, was kissing her. He'd kissed dozens of women before, all different shapes and sizes, but not one of them made his insides shake with so much emotion. Brenda's lips were soft and warm, he could feel her heart and soul through their kiss. She melted against him and he was lost. “Is it possible,” he asked against her lips, “that even though I've only been with you for twenty four hour
s, I've fallen completely in love with you?”
She pushed him away. “No! Of course you can't be in love with me. Nick, that's just crazy.”
Okay, even though he'd never told a woman he loved her before, he was pretty sure that was a bad response. “Why? Give me one good reason.”
“Because...because...”
“Gotta do better than that honey.” He grinned.
Nick watched as she paced the room. “Of course you don’t love me...because...because you don't know anything about me.”
“You're a data entry clerk at Action Mattress, you’re the middle born of five children, you appreciate classic television, you know how to play pinochle, and you know first aid for a sunburn. I think I know quite a lot about you.”
“That's just basic stuff, Nick, that doesn't mean anything.”
“You've never missed a day of work, which means you’re a conscientious person. If you can watch and enjoy a show like Colombo and not some dumb reality show, you're intelligent. And every time you touched me, with your hands covered in aloe, you took care in it, which means you’re gentle.” He stopped, a slow, sexy grin crossed his face. “Oh, and you have the ability to turn me on beyond measure. Shall I continue?”
She shook her head, and lowered her voice. “But...but we haven't even had sex yet.”
He smiled at her and raised his eyebrows. Tilting his head toward the bed, he asked, “Ya wanna?”
She stopped pacing, looked at the bed, then back at him. “What about your sunburn?”
Nick slowly crossed the room and gently kissed her neck. “Be gentle with me, sweetheart, and I think I can handle it.”
Her body instantly relaxed as she gave in to him. When she sighed, he continued to rain kisses up and down her neck, up toward her ear. She sighed again. I must be doing something right.
He took her hand, walked her to the bed, and slowly lifted her dress over her head. He smiled when he saw her conservative tan bra and matching panties. “Brown is now my favorite color,” he said gently pushing her onto the bed.
When Nick removed his own clothes he wasn’t feeling any pain from the sunburn. His body was throbbing with lust instead of soreness. He joined her and began a trail of kisses from her pretty face to her cute little toes, removing her underclothes along the way.
Although kissing her soft, delicate skin provided an incredible sensation, he wanted to be inside her. Damn, not without a condom. He was on his knees in front of her. “Brenda, honey, we can't do this now.”
“What? You can't kiss me like that and then change your mind. Get back to doing what you were doing right now!”
“I would love to, honey, but I don't have any condoms. I'm clean, I'm sure you are, too, but I don't want you to get pregnant until we're married.”
***
Married? Okay, he was just really turned on. Brenda looked down at his impressive naked body and saw that, wow, he was really, really turned on. So that married comment must have just slipped out.
But she wanted this moment. Wanted this one shot at happiness, even if he walked out of her life tomorrow. She reached over to the nightstand drawer and took out a condom. “I bought some while you were out earlier.” Her eyes lit with merriment as she threw one over to him and asked, “Extra large good enough for you?”
He caught it and began unwrapping the package. “You never cease to amaze me. Have I told you lately that I love you?”
“Yeah, but you're all talk, now get over here and prove it.”
He covered himself and was beside her on the bed in a flash. With each gentle yet powerful thrust, he proved just how much he cared for her. Over and over again. “I love you,” he said, and the soft tone of his voice combined with the sensation of him filling her so deeply made her believe it this time. Something about him was special. She’d never felt like this before with any other man. Had never considered going to bed with someone before getting to know them better.
It was crazy, but she was overcome with emotion for someone she barely knew. Somehow over the past twenty-four hours, between his humor and his caring, she found herself feeling the same way. “I love you, too,” she replied just before he brought her to the edge and she climaxed with abandon.
Nick's finale soon followed and he collapsed on top of her. Afraid of crushing her, he quickly rolled off and onto his side.
“My wish was for something to happen on this vacation that would change my life forever,“ she confessed as they lay facing each other, their breathing finally calmed. “My wish came true, didn't it? Thank you for that. I’ll always remember this—”
“I hope you think so, because you’re going to call the boss later and tell her you quit.”
She was stunned. “What? I can’t do that. I know office relationships can be awkward...”
“Yeah, well, that too. But it’s not why I want you to quit. I don’t give a damn what they think in the office. I want you to open that dance school you told me about.”
“But Nick...”
When he kissed away her protests, she realized no matter what excuse she came up with it wouldn’t be good enough to satisfy him. With Nick by her side, she’d be able to do anything. Amazing—yesterday she would’ve been happy if they’d just ended up in bed together. But today she found that just anything with Nick would never be enough. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did. With Nick’s love and support she could do anything she dreamed...or wished for.
Visit Michelle’s Website at
http://www.michellescaplen.com
Blue Moon Magic
Ann Marie Bradley
"Omigod!”
A castle. Not just any castle, but her castle. Well, not hers, really, but the one that had haunted her dreams since she was a child. And now here it was in plain view. Sitting on the white sands of Key West, Florida. Claire Jacobs peered out the window of the taxi. Hotel Castle called to her. Built in 1886, the hotel had been fashioned after a European country castle, complete with round, ivy-covered towers and turrets. The taxi continued down the flagstone drive. Claire closed her eyes and pictured a grand horse-drawn carriage transporting her home to the castle in her dreams–and her prince.
Tired of being passed over for promotions and having senior partners take credit for her ideas at the interior design firm where she worked in New York, Claire had scanned the internet for jobs. When she’d come across the advertisement calling for someone to turn the more-than-one-hundred-year-old, run-down Hotel Castle into a twenty-first century luxury resort, she knew it was the job of her dreams and mailed her resumé. Rob Archer, owner of Hotel Castle, must have been impressed with her credentials, because he’d replied immediately. The offer of more money than she’d made in the past five years and the perfect job of a lifetime redecorating the wonderful old hotel had been impossible to turn down. Claire wanted this job, somehow knew it was right for her. Risking everything, she quit her job and accepted the position. Archer’s attorney had sent a plane ticket and advance, so here she was. Anticipation stirred in her along with nagging doubts. Did she really have the ability to revamp and redecorate such a large building?
A doorman dressed in a Robin Hood wannabe green tunic and tights held the entrance door open for her and pointed out the manager. Claire stepped inside and stopped dead in her tracks as she surveyed the one-hundred-foot square lobby. “Ooooooo!” She spun in circles to take in the entire lobby. Spotting the magnificent tapestries that hung on the red brick walls, she smiled. But at the sight of the elaborate chandelier hanging from the ceiling, she exhaled an “Ahhhhh.” Never mind the carpet was faded. Never mind the upholstered chairs were worn—the hotel was perfect.
A deep, rich voice pulled her from her daydream. "Welcome to Hotel Castle, Miss Jacobs. We’ve been expecting you.” A man who looked to be in his mid-fifties extended his hand. “I’m Fred Miller, the manager.”
Claire cleared her throat to ease the embarrassment, sure her mouth had been hanging open. "Thank you.” She gripped his hand
with a shaky grasp. "The hotel is breathtaking – just like a fairy-tale castle. I can’t explain it, but I feel I’m coming home.”
The manager smiled. "It affects most of our female visitors that way, the Cinderella syndrome. Lord Archer, Fifth Earl of Sundrey, had this place built exactly like his castle in Europe for his fiancée. They meant to live here, but she disappeared a week before they were to marry. When she didn’t return, he died shortly thereafter of a broken heart. It then fell to a distant relation and the new owner turned it into a hotel. Folks say Lord Archer haunts the place.” His face lit up in a wide, friendly grin.
"They never found her–the fiancée?”
"No. Lord Archer posted a hefty reward, even searched himself, but to no avail. It’s said grief overwhelmed him and he lost his will to live.”
"How sad.”
When his hand touched the bell on the elaborately carved and gilded desk, Claire jumped.
"I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’ll have the bellman take your bags to your room, and after you settle in and have dinner, I’ll give you the two-dollar tour.” He handed her a key. "Just call me Fred, by the way.”
Claire sighed. "I’d hoped to meet Mr. Archer. Is he busy?”
"The attorney didn’t tell you?” The manager frowned when she shook her head. "Mr. Archer is indisposed and won’t be meeting with you.” He reached under the counter and retrieved a large envelope. "He left these instructions for you. You’re to have free reign over the place. Mr. Archer never puts in an appearance – well, only once in a blue moon.”
"Oh? How disappointing.” She glanced sideways at Fred as the bellman gathered her luggage on a cart and led the way to her room, across the great hall and past a magnificent marble staircase that curved toward the upper floors.
Inside her appointed room, Claire turned her attention to the spectacular queen-size four-poster bed. She kicked off her sandals and plopped on her back across the burgundy silk quilted comforter. Heaven. How could she improve on anything this lush? The room’s vaulted ceiling was supported by inlaid stone columns and decorated with golden stars. She imagined what it must have been like when Lord Archer built it for his bride. Happy times and love lingered in the room. She felt it. She sighed as the calming, almost drug-like effects of her surroundings robbed her limbs of strength. Though still only late afternoon, the twinkling stars on the ceiling lulled her into a state of sleepiness. She wiggled under the covers and dozed off.
Blue Moon Enchantment (Once In A Blue Moon Series) Page 10
